185 – Chorba Lsan Tair – Orzo Meat Soup Recipe

Ingredients :

• 2 small white onions (peeled and grated)
• 1 small white onion (peeled and kept whole)
• 1 carrot (peeled, cored, and cubed)
• 3 small potatoes (peeled and cubed)
• 2 celery branches (cut in half)
• 1 small bouquet of flat-leaf parsley
• 1 small bouquet of cilantro
• 1/2 pound beef cut into small cubes (you can replace with lamb or chicken)
• spices: 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, a large pinch of saffon, and freshly grated pepper (adjust to taste)
• 8 cups water (2 liters)
• 2 tomatoes (boiled for 1 minutes, peeled, and cubed)
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon smen (clarified butter / ghee)
• 1/2 cup orzo

Directions :

1- First, we are going to prepare the vegetables. Here I have a bunch of onions. 2- Grate 2 onions and keep 1 small onion, peeled and whole, to put later in the soup.
3- Take a beautiful carrot, peel it, cut in half, remove the core, and cut it into small cubes.
4- Peel and cube 3 small white potatoes.
5- Cut 2 celery branches in half.
6- You will also need a small bouquet of parsley and a small bouquet of cilantro. Tie them us using one of the parsley branches.
7- When the vegetables are ready, we are going to start making the soup. First, we are going to brown the meat. I am using 1/2 pound of beef meat cut into small cubes but feel free to replace it with lamb or chicken.
8- On medium heat, drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pot. Add the grated onion, cook for 2 minutes, then add the meat and the spices (1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of ginger, and a large pinch of saffron threads). Let the meat cook for 2 minutes before adding the rest of the ingredients.
9- Add 8 cups of water (2 liters) to the meat.
10- Add 1 whole onion, the carrots and potatoes, the celery branches, the bouquets of parsley and cilantro.
11- Cover you pot and let cook on medium-high heat for 15 minutes.
12- Now that we put the soup to cook we are going to prepare the tomatoes.
13- Place 2 tomatoes in boiling water and let them cook for 1 minutes. Peel the tomatoes then dice them into small cubes. Place the tomatoes in a bowl and crush them with a fork.
14- After cooking the soup for 15 minutes, add the tomato cubes and 1 tablespoon of tomato paste.
15- Cover the pot and let the soup cook for 45 minutes on medium-high heat.
16- After 45 minutes, check on the meat to see if it’s cooked. If so, remove the celery branches and parsley and cilantro from the soup. Discard.
17- Taste the soup and adjust the spices accordingly (salt, ground ginger, and freshly ground pepper).
18- Add 1/2 teaspoon of smen (clarified butter / ghee) and 1/2 cup of orzo.
19- Mix the soup using a laddle, cover, and let cook for another 10-15 minutes.
20- Reserve the whole onions for special people who love it!
21- Serve the soup hot! Bonne Appetit!